The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Abuja

  • Nigerian Airforce strikes Boko Haram logistics base

    The Nigerian Airforce (NAF) said its Fighter Aircraft had struck insurgents’ logistics base at Kangarawa in Northern part of Borno.

     

    This is contained in a statement issued by its Director of Public Relations and Information, Group Capt. Ayodele Famuyiwa, in Abuja.

     

    “The NAF, in continuation of its employment of airpower to decimate the capability of the insurgents, has successfully taken off another logistics belonging to the insurgents.

     

    “The latest air strike was carried out on April 11 by NAF F7-NI Fighter Aircraft against the insurgents,” it said.

     

    According to the statement, the scale of accompanying inferno and multi explosions as can be seen from the footage of the air strike, suggests that the location possibly houses fuel or ammunition.

     

    It said that the strike constituted another major setback for the insurgents, while providing tangible evidence of many of the recent successes recorded by the Air component of Operation Lafia Dole.

  • Promote processed raw materials before exports – Expert urges FG

    Materials Science and Technology Society of Nigeria(MSN) has called on the Federal Government to increase its foreign exchange earnings by ensuring that only refined raw materials and minerals are exported.

    Prof. Abdul-Kareem Ahmed, the President of the society, made the call on Tuesday during an interview with the Newsmen in Abuja.

    According to him, the nation should be processing its raw materials into finished products and even go as far as advanced materials to maximise their usefulness.

    He reiterated that raw materials or mineral resources become advanced once they are processed into higher modification for superior performance.

    “We want government, the private sector and other stakeholders to come together and make contributions toward acquiring necessary equipment to be able to produce the advance materials from mineral resources in the country.

    “We have many raw materials in the country that can be used for advance materials.

    “When you produce advance materials, you have added a lot of values and when you now export, you earn a lot of foreign exchange.

    “Using the processed products in the country will also reduce importation, which means our currency will gain more value,” he said.

    On availability of technical know how required to add value to abundant raw materials in the country, MSN president said that increase in research funding and training would boost indigenous expertise.

    “We need to develop indigenous knowhow to be able to process these materials into advanced materials which of cause we use a lot but we import virtually all of them.

    “We also need to improve on our research funding because at the moment, our researches are not good enough because we don’t have state-of the-art equipment to carry out these researches,’’ Ahmed said.

    He said that the nation’s crude petroleum could be used to make many petroleum base materials like polyethylene resin a derivable from ethylene, a by-product of crude petroleum.

    Ahmed said that the same value could be added to iron ore in the nation, saying “our iron ore can also be refined to make super alloyed”.

    The association president said that MSN would continue to organise conferences, lectures and workshops for its members and other stakeholders in the country.

    “These workshops and trainings will increase the proficiencies of its members and make them to be more in tuned with the technical knowhow of refining raw materials locally,’’ he said.

     

  • FCT polls: INEC declares Kuje Area election inconclusive

    Tight security preceded the announcement of results of the Saturday Federal Capital Territory. (FCT), Kuje Area Council election which was declared inconclusive by the Independent National Electoral Commission.
    Out of the ten wards, All Progressive Congress, (APC), won eight, while the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP), got more votes in two.
    APC had 13, 549 total votes, All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA), 5, 516 and People Democratic Party (PDP), 11, 478 votes.
    The INEC returning officer, Dr. Nicholas Belikatu who made the declaration in Kuje while announcing the result said that the results failed to meet some criteria for declaring a winner for the election.
    Explaining why the election was inconclusive, the returning officer stated that, a party must win with a simple majority of the highest vote cast, and must meet a 2/3 spread across the ten wards in the area, and that the number of cancelled votes must be lower than the winning margin.

  • FCT polls: low turn out in Kubwa

    FCT polls: low turn out in Kubwa

    Kubwa, a suburb in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), under the Bwari Area Council witnessed low turn out of voters for the Council election held on Saturday.m

    Most of the polling units, like the Kubwa village primary school that normally has crowd of voters recorded low turn out as only few people came to vote.

    Some of the old polling units around Kubwa had few voters, while newly setup units like the one at the Water Board junction in Byazhin had no voters.

    The Corps member who is also the presiding officer of the unit attributed the lack of voters to the fact that the unit is new.

    “People are probably not aware of this unit even though my supervisor said that he will direct voters to us, we are still waiting.”

    The polling unit at the Byazhin junction equally had very few voters, so were the different polling units inside the Byazhin primary school.

    A residents of Kubwa, Ola Adeniyi explained that most people are finding it difficult to go out and vote due to the fuel scarcity. “I have packed to Byazhin but I registered in Chikakuri which is after Byazhin across, nobody is giving me transport fare or fuel, so how do you expect me to vote.”

    When asked why he was not voting, another resident of Kubwa John David claimed not to know the aspirants. “I don’t know who the aspirants are, I voted during the Presidential election and I can’t imagine stressing myself this time around.”

    Even though the Police had warned residents of no movement and some major roads were blocked with tyre and planks, residents could still be seen moving around in numbers, with commercial motorcyclists going about their business freely security officials looked on quietly as a few petty traders displayed their wares, while some shops in the Kubwa village were opened discreetly to customers.

  • Buhari urges doctors to shelve planned strike

    Buhari urges doctors to shelve planned strike

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday urged the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) to shelve its proposed strike and give the Federal Government more time to address the grievances of doctors.

    He made the call at a meeting with the leadership of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), at the State House, Abuja.

    Buhari, in a statement by the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, gave the doctors an assurance that no agreements duly entered into by the Federal Government will be dishonoured by his administration.

    He called for greater understanding and support from doctors and all Nigerians in view of the present short fall in national revenue brought about by the decline of crude oil prices.

    The President decried the adverse impact of the fall in oil prices on the Federal Government’s spending plans for health and other sectors and said that his administration will continue to do its best to address issues that are of concern to doctors and other Nigerians.

    The President also gave the NMA delegation an insight into his administration’s plan to establish 10,000 primary healthcare centres across the country in the next two years with the objective of providing better healthcare for about 100 million Nigerians.

    He also told the delegation led by NMA President, Dr. Kayode Obembe that the National Health Act will soon be gazetted and a steering committee appointed to oversee its implementation.

    The Minister of Health , Prof. Isaac Adewole described the plan to establish more healthcare centres as “the single most ambitious health plan for the poor in the history of Nigeria”.

    In his remarks at the meeting, Dr. Obembe called for the implementation of the report of the Yayale Ahmed Committee on better relations among  professional groups in the health sector.

    He also called for fast-tracking of the implementation of the National Health Act.

    At a separate meeting with the leadership of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN), President Buhari promised that his administration will evolve and implement measures to curb friction and disharmony among the professional groups in the health sector.

    The President urged the PSN to work more closely with the National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) to curb the sale of fake medicines in the country.

    The President of the PSN, Ahmed Ibrahim  Yakasai assured President Buhari that pharmacists in Nigeria were ready to work in harmony with other professionals in the health sector to help the Federal Government achieve its objective of improving healthcare services in the country.

  • How we discovered Orubebe’s hidden property in Abuja – CCB

    How we discovered Orubebe’s hidden property in Abuja – CCB

    The prosecution in the case against former Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godsday Orubebe opened its case  n Thursday with its first witness giving details of how the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) discovered a property owned by the ex-minister in Abuja which he allegedly refused to disclose.

    Orubebe is standing trial before the Code of Conduct tribunal (CCT) on a one count charge of false assets declaration.

    The witness, Samuel Madojemu, an official of the CCB, said Orubebe failed to declare the property identified as Plot 2057, Asokoro District, Abuja, while he served as a minister between 2007 and 2011.

    Madojemu said his responsibility in CCB include “intelligence on observed breaches of the code and asset tracing investigation.” He said Orubebe submitted five asset declaration forms to the CCB between 2007 and 2011.copies of the forms were admitted by the CCT as exhibits.

    On how the CCB discovered that the ex-minister owned the property, the witness explained that the Certificate of Occupancy (CoO) for the property obtained from the Department of Land Administration of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) revealed that it  was issued to Orubebe on April 10, 2011 but that the former minister failed to declare it as of the time of leaving office on May 29, 2011.

    Madojemu was led in evidence by lead prosecution lawyer, Mohammad Diri (the Director of Public prosecution of the Federation).

    The witness said Orubebe ignored the CCB’s invitation to him to make statements during the investigation of the case.

    He said: “The defendant declared his assets to the bureau by virtue of his position as a public officer and as a minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

    “I was instructed to invite him to bureau for the purpose of obtaining his statement on the allegations and intelligence report that was being handled by the bureau concerning him.

    “I invited him. He promised to respond by sending his legal team. He also promised that he might decide to come in person but he did not come.

    “My Lord, the bureau issued him with Form CCB 1 which is the bureau’s asset declaration form and he made his declaration between 2007 and 2011 – the period under investigation.

    “The Code of Conduct Bureau issued the defendant the Form CCB 1 five times. For those five times, he made hs asset declaration to the bureau.

    “My Lord, after we received the form, we examined the form as part of our procedures investigation to ascertain if there was over-declaration or under-declaration.

    “We conducted intelligence assessment on the declaration made by the defendant. We discovered that there were some other plots or properties that were traced to the defendant, Godsday Orubebe.

    “We conducted record examination by writing a letter to the Federal Capital Territory’s Department of Land Administration.

    “My Lord, in their response, which was in writing, it was indicated that Plot 2057 Asokoro District for which the Certificate of Occupancy was issued on April 10, 2011, belonged to the defendant.

    “We thereafter compared the information arising from response from the FCT land administration department with the information on asset declaration forms submitted to the bureau between 2007 and 2011 and discovered that Plot 2057 Asokoro District belonging to the defendant was not declared even as at May 29, 2011 when he left office.

    “Apart from the letter from FCT land admin registry, we also received Certified True Copy of the Certificate of Occupancy in respect of Plot number 2057 issued to the defendant.

    “We also received the CTC of the Right of Occupancy for that same Plot No 2057 issued to the defendant.

    “Also received from the FCT land administration registry, was a letter of authority, given to one Engineer Rodney by the defendant authorising him to collect the Certificate of Occupancy and the Right of Occupancy from the FCT land registry. It was supported by the (international passport) page of the defendant.”

    “My lords, the question we wanted the defendant was to find out why he did not declare plot 2057 for which the C of O was issued to him on April 10, 2011. Whereas for the period under consideration, 2007 to May 29, 2011, when he made those declarations, he did not make the declaration of the property at the end of tenure asset declaration form 2011. He acquired the property while he was still in office.

    “But my lord, he promised to send legal representative to the bureau or come in person but he did not come. We afforded him the opportunity but he did not come,” Madojemu said..

    Orubebe’s lawyer, Selekowei Larry (SAN) objected to move by Diri to tender copies of the CoO, the Right of Occupancy (RoO), the letter of authority referred to by the witness, which were all attached to a letter dated February 18, 2016 by the Department of Land administration of the FCT.

    Larry contended that the letter along with the documents attached to it was inadmissible under Section 83(3) of the Evidence Act, because it was authored by “a person interested” while the case against his client was already pending in court.

    The letter dated February 18, 2016 was authored by Assistant State Counsel of the Lands Administration, Mrs. Funke Audu, of the Federal Capital Territory.

    “These are documents procured during the pendency of this case. The letter is dated February 18, 2016, whereas the suit commenced on October 18, 2015,” Larry said.

    Tribunal Chairman, Danladi Usman overruled Larry and upheld Diri’s argument to the effect that that Audu, who was an employee of the Federal Capital Territory Administration could never be a party interested.

    While the witness spoke, Orubebe, dressed in white traditional attire and a black hat, sat quietly in the accused box.

    Further hearing has been fixed for April 14 for the defence to cross-examine the witness.

  • Photos: Obasanjo, Buhari meet in State House

    Photos: Obasanjo, Buhari meet in State House

    Obasanjo-Buhari
    Former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Thursday visited President Muhammadu Buhari in audience at the State House, Abuja.

     

    OBJ-Buhari

  • Buhari’s foreign trips in order, says Senator Nakudu

    Buhari’s foreign trips in order, says Senator Nakudu

    The Vice Chairman of the Senate Committee on Trade and Investment, Senator Mohammed Sabo Nakudu has said President Muhammadu Buhari’s frequent trips abroad were part of the price Nigeria had to pay for the impunity and reign of terror witnessed in the country during the regime of former President Goodluck Jonathan.

    Senator Nakudu who spoke with The Nation in Abuja on Wednesday said the criticism against President Buhari on his foreign trips were based on ignorance as Nigeria would benefit more from some of the multi-national and bilateral agreements signed by the president abroad.

    He cited the agreement signed by the President with the Government of the United Arab Emirate, UAE, among others as example, saying in a short while billion of dollars starched away in that country would be repatriated into Nigeria.

    Senator Nakudu who represents Jigawa South-West in the National Assembly also defended President Buhari’s Ministers , saying it was unfair to described them as lacklustre since they have not even implemented any budget of their own on their assumption of office last year.

    He said the 2016 federal budget which focuss on the the diversification of the economy would address the problems of unemployment and poverty if faithfully implemented, stressing there is wisdom in the government action to improve revenue earnings from the minining and agriculture sectors.

    His words: “the 2016 budget is a clear intention of the government to do away with oil revenues and embrace agriculture and minining. The 2016 budget is geared towards providing the enabling environment for the economy to grow as can be seen from the allocations to the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing and with economc growth, the issue of poverty and unemployment will be reduced.

    “The budget is also farmers friendly because the present government has realized the importance agriculture can play in our economic life. However, it must be emphasized that success in agriculture cannot be achieved without the necessary support from all tiers of government as being done in developed countries.”

    Senator Nakudu who enjoined Nigerians to be patient with the administration as steps are being taken to right so many wrongs in the system, said it would take a systematic approach to rejuvenate the economy of the country.

    “The administration has prioritized the issues of corruption and insecurity. And we have seen the results of both. Insurgent activities have reduced drastically and people are now being careful and cautious in government offices. The administration is doing the right thing and I believe everybody who mean well for this country would key into that,” Nakudu stated.

  • FG plans massive review of electoral laws

    FG plans massive review of electoral laws

    The Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN) said on Tuesday that the Federal Government will soon unveil plans for a major reform of the nation’s electoral laws.
    The AGF said this yesterday in Abuja while speaking at a stakeholders forum organised by the Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room, led by the Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre (PLAC).
     “This administration intends to carry out a comprehensive legal reform to address the challenges posed by some of our outdated electoral laws. My top priority as Attorney General of the Federation is to lay a solid foundation for a sustainable reform of the judicial sector where rule of law takes pre-eminence over and above rule of man.
    “We have also identified as top priority, the amendment of the Electoral Act and other laws in order to empower INEC and other similar bodies to deal with perpetrators of serious offences. We cannot rule out the possibility of the imposition of sanctions to restrain those found guilty of electoral violence from participating in the electoral process,” Malami said.
    Malami noted that the establishment of Electoral Mobile Court is equally a major electoral reform being considered by the President Buhari government, stressing that some of the gaps in the electoral laws have manifested in the recent decisions of the Supreme Court on some of the election petitions.
    “Also of concern to this administration are the increasing levels of electoral violence as seen in some of the recent held elections. It is my expectation that this stakeholders’ forum will come up with suggestions and proffer solutions to several of the challenges posed to the achievement of credible elections in Nigeria.
    “I have begun consultations with the leadership of the National Assembly and the judiciary to identify key laws and priority areas for reform. “Our priority areas will be clearly outlined in our justice sector reform that we will propose to the National Assembly and align it with their agenda in order to achieve reform within the tenure of this administration and in record time.
    “Taking from the gains of the 2015 general election, it will be important for us as a country to entrench a culture of democratic values that will strengthen our nation,” Malami said.
    He insisted that elections in the country must be conducted in a transparent and democratic manner as to be a source of inspiration to the African continent and show us as worthy example to be emulated by all.
    In this regard, it is our plan to ensure that our elections are competitive, inclusive, free and fair, for all to see”, adding that; “a democracy thrives and endures when the laws guiding the conduct of elections are well known and the citizenry are well informed of it.”
    Malami disclosed that the governing party as well as opposition parties must enjoy a level playing ground, so that competitive elections can be organised and all parties and candidates enjoy all of the democratic rights and freedoms contained in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) including the rights of freedom of speech, assembly, and movement.
    He explained that the nation’s democracy can only work and deliver accountable government, where elected officials see themselves as servants of the people who must subject themselves to credible periodic elections.
    In her opening remark, Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Electoral Matters, Hajiya Aisha Dukku recalled that even though Nigeria conducted one of the most successful and credible polls in 2015, which represented a milestone; there is still room for a lot of improvements in the nation’s electoral process.
    She explained that this will ensure that the gains made in previous elections are consolidated, hinting that, “just before the elections, several amendments aimed at improving the legal framework were proposed, but the National Assembly could not complete the amendments process before the elections were conducted.”
    “The bills seeking to amend the Constitution and the Electoral Act were passed and forwarded to the President for assent only few days before the elections. It was also unfortunate that the country waited until the last months of the 7th Assembly to pass these amendments” she regretted.
    Also speaking, Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Mahmoud Yakubu revealed that as at the last count, his Commission has conducted about 50 elections after the 2015 general polls, saying that sixty more elections would be held this weekend.
    He said sixty-eight of the elections will be held in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Area Council polls, while one State House of Assembly seat will be contested for in Osun state due to the death of its former occupant.
    The INEC boss commended the Situation Room for hosting over sixty civil society groups sharing ideas and experiences on election matters and proffering solutions.
  • North East rehabilitation to gulp $9 billion

    North East rehabilitation to gulp $9 billion

    The office of the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo on Monday maintained that an estimated sum of $9 Billion would be required to rehabilitate and reconstruct damaged infrastructures in the six North-East States of Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Taraba and Yobe.

    Out of it, over $6 billion is immediately needed to commence the recovery of the northeast region of Nigeria.

    From a report of an exercise jointly carried out by the Federal Government, the United Nations, the European Union and the world bank after the completion of the 2-day validation and consensus building workshop at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel in Abuja which the representatives of the six affected states of Adamawa, Borno, Yobe, Gombe, Bauchi and Taraba to review findings and chart way forward, the office announced that the world bank has pledge to make available $800 million towards the rebuilding of the region.

    A statement issued on Monday by the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Laolu Akande, said: “The joint efforts of the federal and state governments with the global partners would now be directed to prioritizing the needed interventions and projects, arranging their sequence and coming up with an action plan.”

    The statement quoted the Sector Manager, Urban Development and Disaster Risk Management at the World Bank Headquarters in Washington, Mr. Idrissa Dia as saying that the physical participation of the Bank at the validation workshop last week in Abuja is an affirmation that the global financial institution is encouraged by the initial feedbacks on the findings of the recovery and assessment.

    He also reaffirmed the Bank’s commitments and support towards the overall success of the planned interventions.

    Mr. Dia said the World Bank was set to mobilize other bodies in the World Bank Group and partners that might be interested beyond the existing donors on the project.

    “In line with the magnitude of the needs we are confronted with, we would like to also mobilize beyond the set of donors here,” he said.

    The European Union’s Acting Head of Cooperation, Mr Juan Casla expressed satisfaction with the findings of the assessment, saying with the leadership displayed in the process by the Federal Government, the different states and the international donor agencies, the EU was now ready to discuss the pledges it made and move forward with implementation in collaboration with other partners and the Government of Nigeria, both at the Federal and State levels.

    “These findings provide shared understanding between the Government of Nigeria and its humanitarian and development partners on a set of priotized, sequenced interventions and the EU as a member of the International partnership involved in this assessment is ever- committed towards ensuring the implementation of these findings,” Casla stated.

    Mr. Casla said from his experience in such interventions, he has seen that the team led by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on IDPs, Dr. Marian Masha has been able to put in place a thorough assessment in a complex and challenging situation in the North East.

    According to the UN representative at the event, Mrs. Jean Gough, the United Nations was pleased with the successes of the assessment, harping on the readiness of the World body to provide technical and other humanitarian support towards achieving the goals of the post-assessment phase of the planning.

    Further findings by the joint committee also revealed that the six states would need $6.4 billion to undertake recovery efforts to cushion the devastation inflicted on the North-East Region between 2011 and 2015.

    The assessments were carried out under the three main components of Infrastructure and Social Services, Peace Building, Stability & Social Cohesion, and Economic Recovery with focus on cross-cutting issues such as governance and accountability, citizen engagement, institutional capacity for implementation, gender, youth, human rights and de-mining.

    The Senior Special Assistant to the President on IDPs, Dr. Marian also disclosed that Borno state was worse hit by the crisis with a loss of $6 billion.

    The region, she said, suffered damages worth $3 billion in housing alone while it also suffered damages in terms of livestock which brought about the need to restore agriculture in the region.

    She said “what this process brings home is that it helps to create a platform to harmonise resources, to coordinate better, support and planning at the federal and state levels, and support also from international donors and partners.”

    Similarly, the Nigeria Recovery and Peace Building Assessment (RPBA), a process that assesses the physical, social and economic impacts of the crisis in the North-East, made finding on the zone, revealing that Yobe and Adamawa states were next in devastation, adding that the destruction in other parts of the region is enormous but with less gravity.

    Dr. Masha said that no fewer than 20,000 lives were lost while 1.8 million people were displaced by the Boko Haram insurgency and the planned interventions are to be implemented over time, in view of resources that are available for its implementation.

    “Crisis recovery in the North-East is a priority of the Nigerian Government and this has been demonstrated by the ownership and leadership of the recovery assessment process, it has helped in securing the continued support of the partners, donors and other critical stakeholders.

    “The plan and implementation strategy are critical to the success of the recovery efforts.  It is not so much about the amount of financial resources that are available, but how we are able to utilize the resources and the capacity to put them to use”, Dr. Masha remarked.

    A Three–volume report of the Nigeria Recovery and Peace Building Assessment (RPBA) recommended a 2-phase strategic plan of two years for stabilization and a recovery phase of 2 years to restore the North-East to progress and development.

    The two phases of stabilization and recovery were fluid and would run concurrently, covering such areas as agriculture, housing, transportation and education over the period.

    These strategies according to Akande’s statement “would help reduce suffering in affected communities, restore a sense of normalcy and regain the trust of people in the region.

    The statement also “recalled that the Federal Government had in January unveiled this assessment programme, which is a joint, high-level collaboration between the Government of Nigeria and three global development partners – the World Bank, EU and the UN – aimed at supporting Government in its short and medium term efforts towards peace building and sustainable recovery in the North-East region of the country.”